Specialist Rosa

Warrior Ethos:

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

Although it may be true that I will never leave a fallen comrade on the battle field, it is also true that they will leave us on the battle field. On Friday, May 25, 2007, SPC. Rosa was killed in action while on a mission in Muqdadia, Iraq.

Rosa was one of those guys that, regardless of who you were, and whether or not you really liked him, he could make you laugh. He was the guy that, upon seeing, a smile crept across your face. He was a friend, and he is a Hero.

Rosa, my brother, rest in peace for you will be sorely missed.

Blogging just to Blog

Basically, I'm just writing this b/c it's been a while since I've blogged; so, here's the scoop.
I'm doing good, though my company can't seem to make up their mind on how we do things which messes up my sleep cycle which stresses me out. I need a vacation that won't come soon enough and won't last long enough and will end up with me back here. Other than that though, I'm doing ok.
Also, just thought of this, and this is my personal opinion that many others agree with me upon; America no longer has any courage. Let me explain that; America doesn't have the courage to let us do what is necessary in this country to do what needs to be done in order for true victory to be achieved. What we are doing here right now is doing nothing in real terms to get the job done. Maybe it's the President, maybe it's the American people who are too concerned with another country's peoples' rights, a country, by the way, who purposely hides those guys who attacked and killed thousands on 9/11. Maybe it's even the fact that political correctness is the only way to go, or at least that's what comes down to us.
I wish I could give exact examples of exactly what goes on over here, but unfortunately, I can't b/c of certain things that would happen to me if I did (i.e. jail).
You know what I think would be great? I think it would be great if President Bush could learn how to say, "Ok, that's enough, we've done enough, and they can finish it on their own." But what I really here is, "Gee guys, I, I think we should do some more to help these guys out." To be honest with you, I thought the original reason we came over here was for weapons of mass destruction (most probably now in Iran), and to squash Al-Qaieda's funding. Since when did over-throwing Saddam and establishing a Democracy become the real priority, or was it always the priority and WMD's and Al-Qaieda's funding were just an excuse to invade?
What I want to know is what's really going on here, and what are we doing about it? I live here, and I don't know.

New Pics

Smell of Victory

I've heard it said so many times..."The sweet smell of victory."
My question is, what's so sweet about it? In the gym, the "sweet smell of victory" is the smell of sweat; in the business of cleaning, it's the smell of chemical cleaners; in the meat packing industry, the smell of dead animals and lots of raw meat; in the fishing industry, the smell of fish, usually dead fish.
But what about on the battle field? What's the "sweet smeel of victory" there?
Well, I will tell you all about that "sweet smell." The "smell of victory" on a battle field is that of blood, burning flesh, burning tires, and gunpowder. What's more is the symphony that goes with it; men's last screams of agony, explosions as bombs go off in the distance and up close, cries of "allah akbar" (God is great) before the insurgents kill the "infidels," the sound of screeching tires as a humvee tries to stop before it reaches the bomb planted in the road, and lets not forget the never ending gunfire as men fight for their lives.
These realizations do not come from my own experience...well, not completely anyway, but from many others experiences, and the one thing I have realized; The "sweet smell of victory" is the most bile, most disgusting smell there is on earth.
Instead, I prefer to look at the other side; the what results due to the actions taken side. What results from that battle is the safety of others, most of whom don't care one bit that we almost died for them. It's the knowledge that those who were killed, the terrorists anyway, will not be able to harm Americans again.
I don't know how it became known as the "sweet smell of victory," but it was poorly named indeed. Instead, I believe it should be called the "sweet results of victory," for that is the only good part about it when all is said and dead.